The Art Of Dreams And Nightmares
by The Sound Of Silver
Summary: Sword Art Online was supposed to be the beginning of a new dream for gamers, but instead, Aikon Krane and her brother are trapped in a nightmare world where their next action could be their last. Their differencing ideals of what this new reality truly is drive them apart, and when they finally reunite, Aikon may have to kill him. That is, if she can survive... Please r&r!
1. Chapter 1

The Art of Dreams and Nightmares.

Summary: Sword Art Online was supposed to be the beginning of a new dream for gamers, but instead, Aikon Krane and her brother are trapped in a nightmare world where their next action could be their last. Their differencing ideals of what this new reality truly is drive them apart, and when they finally reunite, Aikon may have to kill him. That is, if she can survive... Please read and review. (Now accepting avatars! PM for info!)

 **-(Prologue)- Sword Art Online.**

 **November 6, 2022: Day Of Sword Art Online Launch.**

...

She was wasting time, brushing her teeth methodically for an additional two minutes when she normally would've skipped this basic hygiene step, leaving her teeth tinged with plaque until Monday. The minty foam was finally rinsed away with near scalding water when her father knocked on the door, citing his need to go to work as the reason why she needed to hurry up.

She wiped her face on her slightly worn pink towel, being meticulous as she traced her face with her cotton covered hands. She inhaled the scent of Tropical Tango Gain and deeply sighed into the towel, the anxiety that she had built up over the past few weeks finally bubbling in her gut. A wave of fangirl nausea hit her and she steadied herself on the counter, shivering at the cold surface.

Sword Art Online... She couldn't believe her luck! First her brother had gotten his hands on the golden ticket— _somehow_ —and then she had managed to buy a copy off of a poor sap on eBay whose NerveGear broke and he was unable to secure a replacement before the week of the launch. That was the best two hundred dollars—plus an extra fifty for overnight shipping; she knew that the guy was a vindictive asshole who was trying to squeeze every penny from a desperate gamer—she had ever spent.

She hadn't even opened the case, unlike Tosuke with his, for fear of anyone damaging the precious cargo inside. And letting the delicious factory air out. She loved that smell. It smelled of money well spent.

Of course, her parent figure had given her that unbelieving look of "Why in god's name do you want to spend nearly three hundred dollars on a _video game_?" when she asked him about it, but since it was her own money, he watched her—basically—burn hundred dollar bills with a single click. She thinks she saw her father cringe when the ping announced that she was now the proud owner of Sword Art Online, or SAO, as she was quick to correct with a set of narrowed, serious eyes.

And now, she was so close! Only a few more hours until she would be in the first VRMMORPG—virtual reality massive multiplayer online role playing game—ever. She would be a pioneer of sorts—one of ten thousand—in the budding industry of Full Dive Technology, though she would be more like a test subject, but she didn't think of it that way. She just wanted to play one of the most ambitious games ever made.

Another series of knocks accompanied with a warning involving him breaking down the door if she didn't answer snapped her back to her reality more than the coldness of the counter.

"Sorry." She apologized, but she wasn't sure he heard had her as her father dashed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him with a slam. He was more than likely late for work. Again. He slept far too much for his own good. The shower gushed to life, proving her right.

She tentatively and rapidly tiptoed on the cold tiles, each step chilling her to the bone. Would it kill her cheapskate of a father to turn the heat up at least four degrees?!

Ehh... Now that she thought about it, after watching her buy that game, it just might.

Tosuke's door was already shut as she passed by and leapt for the warm safety of her carpeted bedroom. She shivered as she tore mindlessly through her dresser, looking—but not really—for anything to wear during her dive. If her father was leaving for work, then he would turn down the heat, not understanding the concept of Full Dive enough to know that his children would still get frostbite, even if their minds were in a desert, or wherever they would end up. Eventually, as her collectable Hello Kitty watch beeped to signal eleven o'clock, she settled on a pair of soft, warm blue pajamas and thick socks, to protect her toes. Who cared about fashion? She would be designing a whole new _persona_ soon enough.

The socks came on quickly, but she took extra time with the left; her eyes locked on the numerous scars on her left leg, one on her foot, her ankle and two on her shin. There were three more on her thighs, but she didn't notice those unless they decided to itch. These though, these were an ingrained part of who, and what, she was.

A kid who hated reality because reality screwed her over.

She heard her father call from below that he was leaving and to make sure that they set the alarm after he left. She made it down the stairs by the time he was unlocking his cruiser and waved to him as she closed the door and entered the code on the alarm system.

But all this was tediousness that distracted her from the excitement threatening to send her flying up the stairs to glare at her clock until it read '11:59'.

Instead, she turned on the television in the living room, filling the adjoining kitchen with the sound of the day news. It must've been a slow news day that day because they were talking about Sword Art Online extensively. She toasted a bagel while watching the hosts explain the game's premise to a panel of clueless parents.

And before she knew it...

She swallowed a gulp of water far too fast, nearly choking on it when she saw the clock on the stove: '11:57'.

"Oh..." The sound came out choked and she bolted. She wasted time after she slipped on the stairs and bruised her chin, but she ignored the daze as she made it to her computer and connected NerveGear. '11:58'. She had made it...! She exhaled deeply, ignoring the stinging on her chin, as she slowly placed the gear on her head, feeling the heft of the battery on the left side disorienting her for a second until she got used to it again.

She slid the mouse around and her computer came to life, showing the page where she had completed her register for the game. A quick battery of her fingers on the keys and she was in. The disk whirred to life and she was given a sixty second warning after which the game would start, with or without her.

She didn't even bother with her brother, he was probably already in his dive, waiting for the game to start. She jumped onto her bed, her hair wild and anarchistic on her pillows. Her aquamarine eyes slid shut.

"Link Start."

...

...

She was disembodied, her body dust and data. She was floating, upright and yet somehow horizontal. If she had a stomach, maybe she would've been nauseated at the conflicting sensations, but she didn't have anything but her mind, and even that was blank. Her senses were gone.

...

Sight. Ok!

Hearing. Ok!

Touch. Ok!

Taste. Ok!

Smell. Ok!

Log In. Username: A-i-k-o-n, Password: ********.

Downloading Linguistics Software v.2.4... Complete!

The colors rushed past her, filling her ears with high pitched whooshing sounds as the flew to meet a point at the end of her horizon.

And then... The sun. That was the first thing she noticed. Which was strange, because this was winter in the north. The sun was a myth. And warmth? This place was a wonderland.

And the second was that she was standing with her eyes closed, silence all around her.

And the best part was that she was finally here! Sword Art Online! Aikon moved, her legs wobbling for a moment as she oriented herself. Her eyes adjusted to the glare of the afternoon sun above the obelisk in the center of...wherever she was. Her eyes went down as she realized she wasn't alone and hundreds of other players surrounded her. Akion doubted that half of the girl players were actually girls, but she was riding a high of giddiness. She didn't have time to be cynical!

And apparently, neither did the other players because they came to life with excitement in their voices. The sudden roar would've deafened her, if she wasn't squealing with her own joy. She had done it! She had done it! She had—

Tosuke. Where was Tosuke?

Oh wait, he was playing with his friends. He probably didn't want to be with his little sister while playing with them. Huh. Oh well. His loss.

She had done it! She had done it! She had done it!

She had no idea what she had done.

...()...()...()... Author's Notes. The first time they're important; the rest won't.

Welcome to my first ever anime Fanfiction! Whoooo! I wrote this all in a few hours! Double WHOOOOOO! Lol, can you tell? Please say no.

Anyways, I've desired to step out of Sonic and FFXIII fics and try something new for a long while, but I've never had the inspiration to do so. And then, SAO came back on my radar when SAO II came out on Toonami. I kinda hate the series now— ** _separate, purely personal reasons that do not effect the writing of this fanfiction whatsoever_** —but I do love writing Fanfiction! :3 to the max. Maybe I'll do like four or five separate fanfics, including a maybe sequel to this, but it's all up to how I feel about it. :P

Also, there were some basic questions left unanswered in the series, the most burning being, how did ten thousand worldwide players—all on **_one_** server—communicate? Surely they all spoke different languages. So if I make up something to explain the unexplained, please don't think I'm deviating just because this is a Fanfiction. A lot of time and thought went into the premise, including some daydreaming of what it would be like to be trapped in SAO. How would basic functions work and such.

One last thing! Though she is the main character, this story will **_not_** exclusively feature Aikon! We will follow other's points of view, which is why I **_need_** avatars. I felt that SAO was really lacking in that department so I wanted to help fill the gaps of what the other players were thinking. :3 Kay, good?

I used the word "day" three times in one paragraph. Aww... (Paragraph sixteen)

Toast Writer. Get the buttah!


	2. It's Just A Game Full Story On Wattpad

Aikon scrolled through her menu as she nibbled on a piece of dry black bread without any actual hunger. This was a salve for the nauseating anxiety bubbling in her gut. Even if this was a game, she didn't want to find out if her gag reflex worked.

She refreshed her menu again.

Waited a moment.

Menu, settings...

The logout button was missing.

Aikon had sent a message to the GM an hour ago and so far had heard no reply. Was this a gamewide bug or just a glitch in her menu alone?

Before any of those questions could be answered, however, Yuna emerged from Blackrock Palace, stretching as she did so. She was a relatively lean young woman in her twenties-maybe, Aikon reminded herself. This was a game, after all-with a dark skin color, deep red hair and matching eye color. They glimmered with a mischievous backlight that translated into what kind of a player she was: the reckless kind who didn't care about dying so long as they didn't get looted while they revived-not like she had anything worth looting, she had the same starter gear as everyone else and a basic longsword. This was Yuna's fourth consecutive trip to Blackrock, the place of said revival.

She was cracking her shoulders and joints a few times, muttering something about needing better gear, when she spotted her short haired comrade sitting on the bottom steps, her pink bob surprisingly unnoticeable in the sea of strange colors and hair styles. If Yuna hadn't been looking for a pink haired girl with a starter bow and quiver, she would've missed her.

"What are you doing?" Yuna asked, sitting down next to the younger looking girl while massaging an elbow.

Aikon frowned at her menu in response as she swallowed a bite of bread. "My menu is glitching. My logout isn't here."

Yuna peered over her shoulder to get a better view of the floating window. Sure enough, the logout button was missing from the options. She bit the side of her mouth and swiped a finger down to summon her own menu, albeit one written in Japanese. Once again, Akion was grateful for the linguistic software as she leaned over to watch. She had learned during the tutorial that the software had downloaded a whole different language into her virtual mind. When they spoke, they spoke that universal game language rather than their native tongues, reducing the confusion between worldwide players immensely. "Maybe you're lagging?" Yuna said, going through her menu. "I mean, that's a pretty huge glitch." She tapped her own options and paused in confusion. "...What? Mine's gone too..."

"Was it there when you logged on at first?" Aikon asked, taking another bite of bread. Her mouth was dry and it took a moment for it to go down.

"No, I mean, I didn't check. And it didn't say anything about it in the tutorial." She shook her head and closed the window, standing so quickly that she would've been disoriented if this was real life. "Aw, poor GM's. I'd hate to be them. Can you imagine? If this is on everyone's menu, they're probably getting swamped with flames. Maybe I should type up my own hate mail." She sighed thoughtfully, tapping her chin.

"Don't bother, I already sent a complaint," Aikon said, taking Yuna's offered hand. "But it's not like I have anything to do anyways. I guess I can stay a few hours." She eyed the bread in her left hand. "Might get hungry though."

Yuna went behind her friend and gave her a shove in the back, sending her stumbling onto the street. The bread flew from her hand and fell to the cobblestones, where it exploded into crystal shards of data. "Don't worry about it!" Yuna said dismissively after Aikon whined. "If you help me level to three, I'll buy you something better than Black Bread."

Aikon's vision focused on the status bars in the upper left corner of her eye and frowned. With the multiple deaths came the EXP penalties. Yuna was still a level one, and with her penalties-if it were possible-she should've been level zero. Aikon herself was nearing two, having done some fetch quests for a NPC, but she hadn't left the Town Of Beginnings. Mostly because Yuna kept dying. She couldn't get far. Aikon didn't know why she cared so much, but she waited loyally for the self-destructive girl to revive.

Yuna noticed the frown and clapped her hands together in a pleading gesture. "Please? Pretty please?"

Aikon readjusted her vision to include Yuna's pleading face and then flicked her sight to the small, empty corner of her eyes where message alerts popped up. Tosuke came to her mind and she felt frustration overtake the anxiety in her chest. How long ago did she send him that panicky message, an hour or two? He was her brother, surely he would care about her fears enough to logout and unplug her NerveGear...right...?

But she had to remind herself that this was a new game with a whole different interface than anyone was used to. Maybe he didn't see it. She was glitched after all, maybe the messages appearing in her eye was another bug.

Another reason for her to find him and beat him until he logged out and did as she asked.

But then again, Yuna's missing logout button couldn't have been a glitch as well. What were the odds that, in a pool of ten thousand players, the two with bugged menus would meet?

The odds were too low. That must mean that a bug was going around in the code. That was the only logical answer. Because without the logout, they were trapped... And that would be some sick joke, right? She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips at the mere notion, earning her a confused frown from Yuna.

But seriously. Surely the beta testers would've complained heavily about the bugged logout if this was a feature on every menu. And surely the creators would've made sure that the button was there! It was just a glitch with great odds. Maybe even Tosuke had one. A bug. That's all it was. Aikon had to think of it that way.

She looked around, the small smile still in place. What was she doing? She was in the newest pages of game history and what was she doing? Worrying?

No. She spent far too much time in reality worrying. This would be different. This was her escape.

Where she didn't have to worry about anything but dungeon raids. Her smile grew as she met Yuna's confused face.

Aikon swiveled on her feet and pointed to the gates leading out of the town. "Alright, Ten," Yuna pouted at the nickname. "Let's get going! We have a hundred floors to clear, right? We'll have to be high leveled for that."

Yuna brightened immensely at Aikon's sudden burst of positive energy, all frightening talk and worry pushed to the back burner. She stretched out her back as she jogged along the pink haired girl. "Or we just need some OP weapons," she smirked deviously. "I wish the betas had uncovered some stashes and told us about it. Maybe later this week I can google some maps and we can become the most overpowered players in this game."

Aikon jutted her fist out to the side for Yuna to bump. "OPed?" She asked with a crooked smile.

"OPed!" Yuna bumped her fist with far too much force and enthusiasm, sending Aikon stumbling back into a NPC fruit stand. "Oh, sorry..."

"I'm fine... Ow... I think I got bludgeoned by a watermelon."

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-) Ten Minutes Later...

The warthog was either incredibly dim or didn't care that Aikon was about twenty feet away, fumbling with her bow and an arrow.

She didn't know which was more infuriating, the fact that she couldn't hit a dumb blue pig or that it knew that she wasn't a danger, despite having a weapon. Either way, it was enjoying an idyllic life and that wasn't likely to change.

Yuna twiddled with her sword, popping off red colored attack skills with ease into a tree. Her skill started up with a whine, paused and hit the surface with a dull whack!

In irritation, Aikon snapped, "That's not how you get wood."

"I know that." Whine. Whack! "It's just cool to look at." Whine. Whack! "Hehe... It's shiny..."

Aikon, for the umpteenth time, wished she hadn't chosen this weapon in a moment of "ooh, a bow!" weakness. She should've gone with a spear, or maybe a mace or something easier! This bow required additional strength skill to draw, skill she had opted for when she completed that mindless fetch quest. Yet her arms ached a bit whenever she drew back. Not enough to hurt, but enough to annoy her to the point of ire.

Whine. Whack!

Stupid! Stupid! Why didn't she pay more attention to the tutorial?!

Whine. Whack!

The incessant windup didn't come again and Aikon looked up to see Yuna's cherry red hair making a beeline for her. She grabbed Aikon's arms, bow, arrow and forced them into a drawing stance. "Hey! What are you-?!"

"I figured it out. That's what the Skill Speed bar on the level up option screen is. It's how long it takes to activate a skill. You're not waiting." She pulled Aikon's left hand back and told her to hold it. Her arms ached from the unaccustomed pose and she was sure she looked ridiculous, holding her breath to keep from puffing, cheeks red with effort, but she held.

The arrow glowed a bright red and she felt the system telling her to let go, her attack power limit reached for now. She let her left fingers slip and the arrow flew, hitting that dumb pig in the abdomen. It squealed and jolted before regaining some of its sense and charging.

Aikon panicked. She hadn't counted but that skill felt like it had taken a second or two to activate. She couldn't do that when the pig was charging her!

Yuna's sword, glowing red, sliced into the pig. It squealed again before disappearing into the same crystal shards of data as Aikon's ill-fated bread. A tiny screen appeared before both girls, showing them the rewards, which was a small amount of EXP and, for Yuna, a hock of warthog meat.

"Yum," Yuna stuck her tongue out as she stabbed her sword into the dirt. "Wish I ate meat."

"You don't?"

"Vegetarian for my whole life," she said proudly. She tapped on the screen and a thick, skinned leg of meat appeared in her hands. She groaned in disgust as she offered it to Aikon. "Want it?"

Aikon stared at the hock and nodded. "Sure. I think they have a cooking skill here too."

"What?" Yuna frowned, her red eyebrows meeting. "Why would they have a cooking skill?"

Aikon shrugged as the meat changed hands. "Lots of RPG's I played before this had stupid skills."

"Guess it enhances the experience of the game." She retrieved her sword. "Ready to go again?"

Aikon nodded, the hock disappearing into her black hole of a hoarder bag, and retrieved her own weapons.

"Yeah. Thanks for the lesson. I was about to rage-quit."

Yuna smirked. "Rage-quit over a hard boss. Not that you can't hold your weapon." She flicked her sword around, admiring it. "...You might need some Accuracy Skill, since it is a bow. The system only does so much, I'm guessing. So no headshots."

The skill was easier to use now that she knew what to do. At first, she had to keep Yuna close so she could finish off whatever Aikon failed to; but soon, she was breezing through the warthogs all on her own. Eventually, she knew that the small amounts of EXP she received wouldn't be enough to sustain a higher level and that she would have to take some risks if she wanted to be overpowered.

As much as she hated it, she would have to die a few times.

The strange predator cat she was currently targeting growled, drawing her attention back to the bow. The arrow was lit in its position, waiting for her to let it loose. She obliged and was rewarded with a hiss as the cat became data again. Her screen congratulated her on leveling up and asked her to choose which main skills she wanted to advance.

She was getting irritated with the constant second guessing she had to do with her aim and her arms were getting sore from learning a new position, but the only way to advance Skill Speed was on the main leveling menu. Aikon wanted to shave her skill time by at least half by next month.

Before she could regret it, she chose Skill Speed, figuring that practice would help advance her Accuracy and training would do the same for her Strength.

A warthog sauntered into her vision, chased-or stalked, depending on your point of view-by Yuna, who had her sword raised, ready to strike as soon as she was close enough.

Aikon drew back and waited. The skill hummed to life about a tenth of a second faster than before and she fired, the arrow piercing the warthog in the widest part of its head, underneath it's eye. It exploded into shards, drawing a proud smile from its huntress and a surprised yelp from Yuna. Aikon's Attack must've been raised as well.

"What the-?! Aiko, that was mine and you know it, kill-stealer!" She growled and pointed her sword at Aikon as she came down her small hill. "Seriously..." She huffed and turned her eyes to the virtual setting sun. "It's pretty here, huh?"

Aikon scrolled through her menu while she nodded in agreement. "Yeah..." She muttered distractedly. Her bottom lip went into her mouth to get gnawed on by her teeth. She wished she still had her bread, the sickness was rising again.

Her logout button was still gone.

"Are you still stuck?" Yuna asked, her own menu open, her eyes unsteady with worry.

"Yeah... It's nearly five thirty... My dad will be looking for me."

"Oh, yeah!" Yuna said, slapping her fist into her open palm. "Your family can take off your NerveGear!"

"Isn't that dangerous? Like unplugging something connected to your brain seems... Reckless," Aikon said, her menu closed as she fiddled with her bow. "Yuna, do you think that the others are-"

They disappeared.

...

She was back in town, shoulder to shoulder, back to chest and vice versa with other the players. They all reflected her own expression: confusion mixed with irritation. There was also fear on some the faces of the players, meaning that they had seen the lack of a logout and come to their own conclusions.

None of which were even close to the horrifying reality.

"What's going on?"

"Is this an event?"

"It must be! The missing logout, the teleporting. The admins must've not wanted us to leave before they-"

"Missing logout?!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"The logout is missing?" It was quiet at first, the panic confined to this small corner, but it would soon spread, quickly.

"I have to go to dinner with my grandparents! I can't be here all day!"

"It's just a glitch. Just open your menu."

"..."

"Anki?"

"I... Can't open it. It's not coming up."

"Geez, you're such a noob. Use your right hand."

"I am!"

"Look!" Aikon shouted, pointing to the rusty sky aiming at the floating message set there.

"What...? 'Official Announcement'? What is this?"

The message began to spread until the shapes filled the sky, enveloping them in deep ruby light.


End file.
